John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 1. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel , etc.] The judges in the several cities, or senators of the great sanhedrim, as others; though it is a question whether as yet there was such a court: and all the heads of the tribes ; the princes of the twelve tribes: the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel ; the principal men of the ancient families in every tribe: unto King Solomon in Jerusalem ; these he summoned together to himself there where the temple was built: that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion ; whither David brought it, when he had taken that fort, so called, and dwelt in it; and from this mountain Solomon proposed to bring it up to the temple, on a higher mountain, Moriah, not far from one another.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-11 - The bringing in the ark, is the end which must crown the work: this wa done with great solemnity. The ark was fixed in the place appointed for its rest in the inner part of the house, whence they expected God to speak to them, even in the most holy place. The staves of the ark wer drawn out, so as to direct the high priest to the mercy-seat over the ark, when he went in, once a year, to sprinkle the blood there; so tha they continued of use, though there was no longer occasion to carry it by them. The glory of God appearing in a cloud may signify, 1. The darkness of that dispensation, in comparison with the light of the gospel, by which, with open face, we behold, as in a glass, the glor of the Lord. 2. The darkness of our present state, in comparison with the sight of God, which will be the happiness of heaven, where the Divine glory is unveiled.
Original Hebrew אז227 יקהל6950 שׁלמה8010 את853 זקני2205 ישׂראל3478 את853 כל3605 ראשׁי7218 המטות4294 נשׂיאי5387 האבות1 לבני1121 ישׂראל3478 אל413 המלך4428 שׁלמה8010 ירושׁלם3389 להעלות5927 את853 ארון727 ברית1285 יהוה3068 מעיר5892 דוד1732 היא1931 ציון׃6726
